Flat-seam sewing machine



'Nov. 3 1925.-

R. R. HUGHES, JR

FLAT SEAM'SEWING MACHINE Filed July 2, '1920 4 Sheets-$heet 1 Nov. 3, 1925- v 1,560,163

. R. R. HUGHES, JR

FLAT SEAN] SEWING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 3 1925. 1,560,163

' R. HUGHES, JR

FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 I 2760. Q? 16 J7 J5 gwwnfo'o 7w 61@; a 3% k Gummy! Nov. 3, 1925 5 ,560,163

R. R. HUGHES, JR v FLAT SEAM smwiu MA'CHINJE FiledJuly 2, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Gamm Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES ROBERT R. HUGHES, JR., 0] UTICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB 'I'O UNION SPECIAL MACHINE 1,560,163 PATENT OFFICE.

COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CGRPQBATION OF ILLINOIS.

I FLAT-SEAM SEWING MACHINE.

Application filed July .2,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT R. I-IUGHnS, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flat-Seam Sewing Machines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked. thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in sewing machines, and more particularly to a machine forformlng a flat seam wherein the edge portions of the fabric sections are overlapped and pref erably joined by means of stitching mechanism which not only unites the edge portions but'covers the raw edges of the fabric sections.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above character having means for trimming the Lip-turned edge portions and stitching the overlapped edge portions together to form a fiat seam, with movable means for positively turning down said edge portions into overlapped relation prior to the stitching thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above character wherein a movable means operates upon the lowermost edge portion for positively turning the same down into the plane of the fabric section, after which the uppermost edge portion is turned down onto said lowermost edge portion.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above character wherein the uppermost edge portion is operated upon by a horizontally moving finger located in rear of a horizontally n'ioving finger which operates to turn down the lowermost edge portion.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings, which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is an end view of a portion of a machine embodying my improvements and showing the work supporting cylinder in side elevation, the strap guard being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a view, partly in horizontal section and partly in plan, of the end of the 1920. Serial No. 393,681.

work support and 'the operating devices adjacent said end portion;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the extreme forward end of the work supporting cylinder;

Fig. is a section on the line a-a of Fig. 3;

a section on the line Z?-b of a section on the line G -I6'Of a diagrammatic view showing the overlapped fabric sections and the relation of the stitches thereto;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the presser foot;

Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 11 is a view showing the carrier for the cross thread laying mechanism and the finger for turning down the uppermost edge portion;

12 is a detail showing a part of the carrier for turning down the lowermost edge portion.

In the patent granted to Joseph Berger, J12, November 20, 1919, No. 1,247,072, there is shown a machine for forming a flat seam wherein the edge portions are overlapped and said overlapped edge portions are joined by a three needle stitching mechanism disposed so that the center needle passes through the overlapped edge portions while the other needles pass respectively outside of and adjacent the edges of the fabricseca section on the li e 0 o tions so that the connecting looper thread i and across thread for the lines of needle loops not only join the fabric sections but cover the cut edge portions. sect-ions as they are led to the stitching mechanism have their edge portions turned upward and trimmed, after which they are turned down into overlapped relation and thus fed to the stitching mechanism.

The present invention is directed broadly to an improvement in the machine above referred to and consists in providing a movable means for turning down the lowermost edge portion after it leaves the trimmers,

after which a. movable means operates upon the uppermost edge portion for turning the same down into overlapped relation onto the lowermost edge portion. Means are provided for turning the edge portions of The fabric the fabric sections out of the plane of the fabric sections and into vertical position where they are trimmed by horizontally disposed trimming devices, and the movable means for bringing the edge portions back into overlapped position in the plane of the fabric sections operates upon the edge portions after they are trimmed and before they reach the stitching mechanism.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have shown my invention as applied to a machine of the general type described in the patent above referred to, which machine is provided with a work supporting arm 1 which is suspended so that the material being stitched may be wrapped about the work supporting arm and fed off from the end of said arm as it is stitched. It will be obvious that the invention may be equally applied to a machine having a work supporting arm wherein the conveying mechanism is arranged to feed the material onto the arm as it is stitched. This work supporting arm is provided with a throat plate 2 having slots 33 in which the sections of the feed dog 4 operate (see Fig. 3). The throat plate is also provided with needle holes 5 for three needles and stitch fingers 6 extending rearwardly from said needle holes. The machine is provided with three needles indicated at 7, 8 and 9 in the drawings. Gooperating with these needles beneath the work support is a single looper, such as shown in the patent above referred to. The needles are carried by a needle bar 10 which is reciprocated in the usual manner.

The material is held on the work support by a presser foot 11 carried by a presser bar 12. This presser foot 11, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, is provided with a guiding slot 13 leading from the extreme forward end of the foot rearwardly, and said slot is located directly in front of the needles which pass through the throat or hole 14 in the presser foot.

The material to be stitched may, of course, be a single piece of fabric having its edges brought together to be united. For the purpose of description, however, I have referred to the stitching mechanism as operating upon fabric sections, one of which is indicated at F in the drawings and the other at F. In the finished scam, the section F has its lowermost edge portion overlapped by the uppermost edge portion f of the fabric section F. These overlapped edge portions are united by a line of needle loops formed in a needle thread 03 carried by the needle 8. These needle loops pass through both fabric sections. The needle 7 carries a needle thread y which is formed in loops which pass through the fabric section F adjacent the edge of the fabric section F. The needle 9 carries a needle thread 2 which is formed into loops and which pass through the fabric section F adjacent the edge of the fabric section F. The needle threads are united on the upper face of the fabric by a cross thread 0, while the needle loops beneath'the fabric are joined by a looper thread Z. It will thus be seen that these overlapped edge portions are joined to form a flat seam by connected lines of needle threads, and the stitching threads cover the cut or raw edges of the fabric sections. In other words, the overlapped sections lie within the limits of the outer needles of the stitching mechanism.

Mounted on the throat plate 3 and adjacent the needle holes 5 is a V-shaped edge turning device 15. The two fabric sections are led into the machine with one edge portion against one side of this V-shaped edge turning device and the other edge portion against the other side thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. This V shaped edge turning device 15 extends into the guiding slot 13 in the presser foot, and the presser foot cooperates in holding the fabric sections on the work support with tleir edge portions upturned and the extreme edge portions brought into parallel vertical position for trimming.

The trimming mechanism consists of a stationary trimming blade 16 and a movable trimming blade 17. The stationary blade is carried by the presser foot and is mounted in a suitable groove therein. The movable trimming blade is carried by an arm 19 mounted to swing about the presser bar 12 as a center. This movable arm 19 is oscillated by suitable means, such, for example, as shown in the Berger patent referred to above; Said blade 17 moves in a horizontal plane and trims the rip-turned edge portions of the fabric sections. The trimmed edge is deflected away from the stitching mechanism by a deflector 20 which is of the usual character and which is pivoted to the presser foot so that it may be thrown to one side to give access to the stitching mechanism.

Directly in rear of the trimming blades the V-shaped edge turning device 15 is cut away, as indicated at 21 in Fig. 3 of the drawings. An edge turning finger 22 is mounted on a swinging arm 23, which swinging arm turns about the center of the presser bar 12 as an axis and is preferably carried by the yoke on the bracket on which the movable trimming blade 1? is mounted. The presser foot is formed with a curved recess or groove in its under face, see Fig. 10. Thisgroove is formed about the axis of the presser bar as a center, and the turning linger 22 moves in said groove. Said turning finger also moves in tl e cutaway portion 21 of the l-shaped edge turning device 15. As a result the lowermost edge of the fabric resting against the left hand side of the J-shaped turning device,

as shown in Fig. i, when it reaches the cutaway face 21 is operated upon by this turning finger 22 and forcibly turned down into a horizontal plane, as indicated in F 1g. 5. The edge portion of the other fabric section F is still Lip-turned, and thus it will be seen that the lowermost edge portion 15 forcibly turned down by niovingmeans into a horizontal position prior to the turning down of the uppermost edge portion. The Vshaped edge turning portion on the ri ht hand side of the center needle terminates at 25, see Fig. 3, and a second movable edge tut-nine finger 26 operates upon said edge portion of the fabric section F" just after it leaves this end of the V-shaped edge turning device 15 and forcibly turns down the up ermost edge portion in a horizontal position overlapping the lowermostedge portion, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. This movable edge turning linger 26' is mounted on a carrier 27 which also supports and operates the. cross thread laying hook 28. The carrier 2? is similar in construction to that shown in the Berger patent above referred to, and further description thereof is not thought necessary. The edge turning linger 26 is almost directly beneath the hook In order to strengthen the presser foot, I have reinforced the same by means of a plate 29 which 1s secured to the presser root by means of screws 30. The other section of the presser foot is also strengthened by a plate 31 secured thereto by screws 32. The turning finger 26 moves 1n aguideway 33 which is covered by the strengthening plate 31. The trimming blade is supported against upward spring by means of an overlapping projecting finger bracket 34-.

rom the al I have provided means for positively and fo cibly turning the ecge portions of the f l0 sections wh ch are to be stitched out of the plane of the fabric sections and into vertical position Where they are trimmed, atter which one edge portion is positively l to a horizontal pos1- and forcibly returned 7 tion or the plane of the fabric sections, after which the other edge portion is form: blv and positively returned to horizontal position or the plane of its fabric section, and these return l edge portions overlapped wi hin the h nits of the stitching mechw nism. 'lhe invention is directed broadly to this movable insane for positi v manipulating the edge portions of the fabric sectionsi after they are trin'u'ned and. prior to the stitching of the same, and it is obvious that changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts n'iay be made Without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is iove, it will be apparent that 1. The combination of stitch forming mechanism, horizontally disposed trimming devices located in advance of the stitch forming mechanism and adapted to trim the rip-turned edge portions of fabric sections, means operating between the trimming devices and the stitch forming mechanism for positively turning down the lowermost edge portion, and means for turning down the uppermost edge portion onto said lowermost edge portion prior to the stitching of the same, said means for turning down the edges being movable in planes substantiallyparallel with the plane of the fabric operated upon.

The combination of a presser foot, stitch forming mechanism, horizontally disposed trimming devices located in advance of the hing mechanism and adapted to trim the turned edge portions of fabric sections, d devices vibrating in horizontal planes for positively turning down thetrinnned edge portions into overlapped relationin advance of the stitching mechanism.

3. The combination of a presser foot, a stitching mechanism including a plurality of needles, a tlu'eaded locper cooperating with the needles beneath the Work support, and a cross thread laying mechanism cooperating With the needles above the 'WOIk support, horizontally disposed trimming devices located in advance of the needles and adapted to trim the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, and means movable relative to the presser foot operating upon the edge portions between the trimming devices and the needles for forcibly and positively turning ClOWIl said trimmed edge portions into overlapped relation prior to the stitching of the same.

4. The combination of a pre ser foot, stitch forming mechanism, horizontally dispo Qwkn. trimming devices located in advance of the stitching mechanism and adapted to trim the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, means for directing the upturned edge portions of the fabric sections to the trimming devices, devices vibrating in horizontal planes for positively .igagiug and turning down the trimmed edge portions, said vibrating devices being timed so as to cause one of. the turned down sections to over ap the other, and said devices for turning news the edge portions operating upon said so as to bring them into overlapped relation prior to reaching the stitching mechanism Where they are stitched down.

The combination With stitching mech anism, a presser foot having a V-shaped guiding recess adapted to receive the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices operating to trim the upturned edge portions passing into said guidingrecess, a V-shaped device for positively turning the edge portions from the plane of the fabric sections into vertical position and directing the same into said guiding recess, and devices movable independent of the presser foot operating upon the trimmed edge portions between the trimimng devices and the stitching mechanism for turning down said trimmed edge portions prior to the stitching of the same.

6. The combination with stitching mechanism, a presser foot having a V-shaped guiding recess adapted to receive the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices operating to trim the upturned edge portions passing into said guiding recess, a V-shaped device for positively turning the edge portions from the plane of the fabric sections into vertical position and directing the same into said guiding recess, and devices movable independent of the presser foot operating upon the trimmed edge portions between the trimming devices and the stitching mechanism for turning down said trimmed edge portions prior to the stitching of the same, said trimming devices being disposed so that said edge portions when returned to the plane of the fabric sections for stitching will overlap within the limits of the stitching mechanism.

7 The combination of stitching mechanism, horizontally disposed trimmmg de vices adapted to trim the up-turned edge portions of fabric sections, a V-shaped guiding device for turning up said edge portions and directing the same to the trimming devices, said V-shaped device being cut-away at one side thereof in rear of the trimming devices, a horizontally moving finger adapted to engage the lowermost edge portlon and turn the same down into said cut-away portion and into the plane of each fabric section.

8. The combination of stitching mechanism, horizontally disposed trimming devices adapted to trim the Lip-turned edge portions of fabric sections, a V-shaped guiding device for turning up said edge portions and directing the same to the trimming devices, said V-shaped device being cut-away at one side thereof in rear of the trimming devices, a horizontally moving finger adapted to engage the lowermost edge portion and turn the same down into said cut-away portion and into the plane of each fabric section, saidedge turning device terminating in rear of said edge turning finger, and a second horizontally disposed edge turning finger operating in rear of the edge turning device for engaging and turning down the up permost edge portion onto said lowermost edge portion 9. The combination of stitching mecha nism, trimming devices located in advance of said stitching mechanism including a trimming blade movable in a horizontal plane, a turning finger movable with the trimming blade and disposed in rear thereof and adapted to engage and turn down into horizontal position one of said up-turned trimmed edge portions.

10. The combination of stitch forming mechanism including a thread hook, a carrier therefor, trimming devices, an edge turning finger mounted on the carrier for the thread hook and located beneath the same and adapted to engage one of the upturned trimmed edge portions and turn the same down into a horizontal plane.

11. The combination of a presser foot having a guiding recess adapted to receive rip-turned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices for trimming said upturned edge portions, said presser foot having a groove in the under face thereof, a finger movable in said groove and adapted to engage one of said upturned trimmed edge portions and to turn the same into the plane of its fabric section.

12. The combination of a presser foot having a guiding recess adapted to receive up-tnrned edge portions of fabric sect-ions, trimming devices for trimming said up turned edge portions, said presser foot having a groove in the under face thereof, a finger movable in said groove and adapted to engage one of said trimmed edge portions and to turn the same into the plane of its fabric section, said presser foot having a guideway on the opposite side of said guiding recess, and a finger movable in said guideway and adapted to engage the other trimmed edge portion and turn the same down into the plane of said fabric section.

13. The combination of a presser foot having a guiding recess adapted to receive rip-turned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices for trimming said upturned edge portions, said presser foot having a groove in the under face thereof, a finger movable in said "groove and adapted to engage one of said trimmed edge portions and to turn the same into the plane of its fabric section, said presser foot having a guideway on the opposite side of said guiding recess, and a movable finger in said guideWay and adapted to engage the other trimmed edge portion and turn the same down into the plane of said fabric section, and strengthening plates secured to the up per face of the presser foot.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signatnre.

ROBERT R. HUGHES, JR. 

